


The Second I Met You

by queenofhunter93



Series: Shadowhunter AU [2]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Daylighter Huang Zi Tao | Z.Tao, Fey Byun Baekhyun, Fledgling Park Chanyeol, M/M, Shadowhunter Kim Jongdae | Chen, Shadowhunter Kim Junmyeon | Suho, Shadowhunter Kim Minseok | Xiumin, Vampire Wu Yi Fan | Kris, Werewolf Lu Han
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:42:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24507859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenofhunter93/pseuds/queenofhunter93
Summary: The only rule Jongdae swore not to break, he broke the second he met Baekhyun.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Kim Jongdae | Chen, Huang Zi Tao | Z.Tao/Park Chanyeol, Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Wu Yi Fan | Kris, Kim Minseok | Xiumin/Lu Han
Series: Shadowhunter AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1770874
Kudos: 40





	The Second I Met You

**Author's Note:**

> Reposted from my livejournal.

Jongdae _hated_ mundanes.

Which sucked for him, because in his line of job as a Shadowhunter, he was obligated to protect those he hated the most. As said on the very first and foremost of the Law of the Nephilim: “You are Man; serve Man; live among Man.” If it was any other day job, Jongdae would’ve quit by now. But no, it just had to be in his _blood_. He just _had_ to be born as a Shadowhunter who needed to protect those stupid mundanes.

No, Jongdae didn’t hate being a Shadowhunter. He would never trade those years of training with his brothers and whipping their asses (literally) for anything. He just wasn’t satisfied with the job description. He could live with killing demons, but saving a bunch of whiny mundanes as they’re being bullied by said demons… just no.

Why did Jongdae hate mundanes? Jongdae would like to know that himself. It was a prejudice he couldn’t kick away, and frankly, Jongdae didn’t mind living with said prejudice. It was a pretty ironic prejudice, considering that if he ever was stripped of his Marks, Angel forbid, he would become one of them.

And considering what he had done – accidentally, in his defense – there was a huge possibility that he could be stripped of his Marks at most, imprisoned in the Silent City for years at _least_.

What had Jongdae done, you ask?

Well… let me first tell you that Jongdae didn’t mean to do what he did. It was pure accident and if Jongdae was a bastard, he would put the blame on the mundane. Actually, Jongdae didn’t need to be a bastard to actually blame the mundane – he just needed to be Jongdae.

One of the most important Covenant Law that every Shadowhunter must abide was that Shadowhunters cannot reveal the Shadow World to mundanes. Jongdae knew that law _by heart_. That particular law was even bolded in the Shadowhunter’s Codex. If anyone was to break that law, the last person the Council would think of would be Jongdae.

But that was not the case.

***

His name was Byun Baekhyun. From Jongdae’s judgment, they were of the same age, and their heights were similar. Jongdae first saw him in a coffee shop that he and Minseok frequented, a couple of blocks away from the Institute. It was one of those days where the children of the Kim family had no training and decided to spend the day like normal teenagers or adults, with no glamour. On the first time Jongdae had laid eyes on Baekhyun, somehow he knew he was going to get in trouble, one way or another.

Jongdae was alone that day, with Minseok away to the Praetor Lupus to “discuss something” with Luhan – Jongdae snorted at that, because his oldest hyung was not very good at being subtle about his crush on the werewolf. Baekhyun was currently singing and playing the piano in the shop. As Baekhyun was playing, Jongdae noticed that Baekhyun kept stealing glances at him, looking shy every time. If Baekhyun wasn’t a mundane, Jongdae would be swooned by then.

Jongdae wasn’t blind. The boy was _beautiful_. He had black hair and small eyes, highlighted with eyeliner, which actually made the boy – dare Jongdae say – _hot_. There was something about the boy’s face that actually reminded Jongdae of a puppy. Jongdae could actually see this boy making great friends with Byul, Junmyeon’s Yorkshire terrier, or maybe with Jongin’s three poodles, Jjanggu, Monggu, and Jjangah. Or maybe all four of the Kim family dogs.

The way the boy shyly looked at him as he sang actually screamed cute to Jongdae. And his _voice_. He sounds just as beautiful as he looked. As much as he hated mundanes, if he was persuaded in the right way, Jongdae might make an exception on this boy.

Jongdae shook his head. What the hell was he thinking? This boy is a mundane! He was – as bitchy as it sounded, even to Jongdae – lower than him. Mundanes _need_ Shadowhunters to actually live a normal life. Shadowhunters, especially Jongdae, could live well without mundanes, or maybe have a better life without them.

“Here’s your drink, Jongdae-hyung,” said the barista, Zitao.

“Thanks, Zitao.”

“And his name’s Baekhyun, just so you know. You seem interested,” Zitao said as he winked and left Jongdae bewildered.

“I am _not_ interested!”

“You’re not? I’m hurt,” Jongdae turned around to see the boy – much more beautiful up close – already standing behind him, a paper cup of steaming coffee in his hands. Jongdae didn’t even notice that the boy – Baekhyun – had finished his set. _His fingers are so pretty… snap out of it Kim Jongdae!_

“I-uh… I…”

“Byun Baekhyun. And you are…?” Baekhyun asked him as he extended his hand. When Jongdae was nervous, he would do stupid things. And this time, he did the stupidest thing he could recall he ever did.

“…leaving,” Jongdae said as he left the premises.

“What? Wait!”

 _Shit_ , Jongdae cursed mentally. The kid was _stubborn as all hell_. Jongdae was actually finding it harder to lose his tail than killing a Greater Demon, which was _hard_. He tried walking through random alleys, ending up somewhere he didn’t really know just to lose Baekhyun, but Baekhyun was definitely quicker on his feet than Jongdae thought.

He was also calling Jongdae names, like “dude!” or “hey, handsome!” or “bro!” or other inappropriate nicknames Jongdae would rather forget in a very loud voice, attracting attention of people around them. Jongdae _craved_ to pull out his stele and carve out a glamour rune just to hide, but he wasn’t alone long enough to actually do it, and he didn’t want people to actually see him disappearing right before their eyes.

After turning right from an alley, he snuck a peek at his back and found nobody following him. Jongdae heaved a sigh of relief. He had finally lost the boy. But the strange thing was that Jongdae didn’t know why he walked back towards the alley, wanting to see where Baekhyun had gone to.

Jongdae didn’t regret his decision.

The reason why Baekhyun stopped chasing him was because a Raum demon was cornering him against a wall with one of its tentacles. Jongdae didn’t think twice before he pulled the belt – which he actually didn’t need, since he was wearing very fitting pants that inspired Baekhyun with another nickname: “buttcheeks” – that was wrapped around his waist with one pull and let it lengthen into an electrum whip, his trusted weapon.

Jongdae gripped the handle of his whip tightly, pulled his hand back, and brought the sharp end of the whip towards the Raum demon. He pulled the whip right just in time to cut the tentacles that was holding Baekhyun against the wall. Jongdae sighed in relief when he saw that Baekhyun was unharmed. Raum demons’ tentacles were tipped with red suckers, which contained a circle of tiny teeth each. Getting bitten by them would hurt even Jongdae, who had experienced that kind of pain before, let alone Baekhyun, who was a mundane.

“Hide!” Jongdae shouted as he pulled the whip back towards him. Baekhyun obliged and ran towards a mountain of used cardboard boxes and hid behind them, peeking once in a while.

Jongdae once again threw his whip and managed to wrap the Raum demon with it and pulled hard. His left hand was busy pulling a small seraph blade he got as his 12th birthday present from his fathers, and whispered “Amriel.” His seraph blade shone bright white and Jongdae used all the power he had in his right hand to pull the demon away from where Baekhyun was.

He dragged the demon closer to him as he took one small steps at a time while trying to avoid the Raum demon’s attacks. When the demon was close enough, he threw the bright seraph blade right towards the space between its eyes and pulled his whip hard, trying his hardest to split the demon into two. He succeeded.

The demon let out a short, shrill noise just before it was split in two, and then the demon vanished into thin air. Jongdae kneeled down and took the seraph blade that fell as the demon went back to its home dimension.

“…wow.”

 _By the Angel_ , Jongdae thought. He had forgotten that Baekhyun was there.

He saw _everything_.

“Well, fuck.”

***

“WHAT IN THE NAME OF RAZIEL WERE YOU THINKING?! You, Jongdae, of _all_ people! Of all the Shadowhunters in this whole goddamn world, you would be the _last_ person I expected to _actually kill a demon in a presence of a MUNDANE_!”

Jongdae shook in his seat. In the corner of his eyes, he could see Jongin doing the same thing, while Junmyeon was standing right next to Minseok, arms folded in front of his chest, looking less murderous than Minseok, which was a relief. Minseok didn’t get angry very easily. The fact that Minseok was actually yelling at him and looking murderous at the same time told him that he was in _very_ deep shit.

“You do know that Jungsoo-appa won’t hold back in the trial, don’t you? Just because you’re his son, that doesn’t mean that he’s going to go easy on you,” Junmyeon said with an air of authority in his voice. Jongdae hated it when Junmyeon sounded like that. That meant that Junmyeon meant business.

Being the Inquisitor, Kim Jungsoo, their father, was responsible for investigating breaches of the Law by Nephilim. He had to serve as the prosecuting attorney and had the right to recommend or request specific sentences for guilty parties. Jongdae had witnessed his father’s ability in being an Inquisitor in multiple trials, which was one of the reasons why Jongdae really wanted to become an Inquisitor in the future. Jongdae also knew, in the back of his mind, that his father would not go easy on him, even though he was his son.

“I know, hyung.”

“Hyung, Jongdae-hyung’s had a rough day. He’s not going to Idris today for the trial, let him rest. He needs all the energy he can get to prepare for the trial,” Jongin said as he looked sympathetically at Jongdae. Jongdae smiled a little at his younger brother.

Minseok sighed, “Fine. Get some sleep, Jongdae. I can bet that abeoji has already contacted a Silent Brother. He’ll be here tomorrow morning. As of now, you’re off Shadowhunter duty until I say so.”

“Hyung…”

“You are _grounded_ , Kim Jongdae. Junmyeon, Jongin, get yourselves ready if you’re coming with me. We’ve got a job to do.”

Jongdae lowered his head and nodded as Minseok left his room. He would never defy his usually calm hyung when he was angry. Junmyeon ruffled his hair and Jongin gave him a pat on the shoulder. Jongdae caressed Jongin’s hand and let his brothers leave his room.

Jongin was right. He didn’t even want to think about what was going to happen the second a Silent Brother came, let alone the trial. He really needed all the rest he could get.

He must be so tired, because the second his head hit the pillows, everything went black.

***

“Jongdae-yah… Jongdae-yah, wake up. Abeoji called for you in the library.”

Jongdae could hear Junmyeon’s soft voice waking him up. He could also feel Junmyeon shaking his body. Being a Shadowhunter who needed to wake up quite quickly in order to attend to emergencies as soon as possible, it was safe to say that all Kim Shadowhunters were light sleeper. Except maybe Jongin. A Greater Demon could attack them and ransacked the place and he’d still be asleep by the end of it. He was _that_ bad.

Jongdae squeezed his eyes shut before he rubbed them with his fist and sat up. He didn’t even bother to change. He walked blindly towards the bathroom and washed his face then just walked towards the library. Inside, he saw his Youngwoon-abeoji sitting on one armchair and Brother Joseph from the Silent Brothers standing right beside him. Jongdae didn’t need to be told to sit right across his father.

“Jongdae-yah.”

Jongdae went rigid for a second at his father’s gruff voice. He knew he was screwed.

“You know Brother Joseph from the Silent Brothers. He’s here to tell you something.”

Jongdae could only nod.

 _Kim Jongdae_ , Brother Joseph told him through telepathy. Silent Brothers were generally tall, wore parchment colored long robes, and had their eyes and mouth sewn shut. They communicate with people through telepathy since, well, they couldn’t really talk with their mouth sewed shut. _You have broken the Covenant Law that clearly stated that you cannot reveal the Shadow World to mundanes._

Jongdae held his head down.

_But the Law stated nothing about revealing the Shadow World to someone who already knew about the Shadow World being a crime._

Jongdae looked up with a frown.

“What do you mean by that, Brother Joseph?” Youngwoon asked.

_Byun Baekhyun knew the existence of the Shadow World because he has fey blood in him._

Jongdae’s eyes widened. Baekhyun had fey blood in him?

 _He has the Sight and he had actually been exposed to the Shadow World by another Shadowhunter, currently imprisoned in Silent City_ , Brother Joseph explained, _I am here to inform you that you are free from any consequences regarding your actions_.

Jongdae sighed in relief. He felt as though the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders. Finally he could breathe easily.

 _But consider this a warning, Kim Jongdae. You are very lucky that Byun Baekhyun already knew about the existence of our world. You have to be more careful next time_ , Brother Joseph said as he left the library silently. Jongdae’s eyes followed the figure as Brother Joseph left the room because he didn’t want to see the look on his father’s eyes. He could imagine how disappointed his father was in his actions.

“Jongdae-yah.”

Again, Jongdae stiffened at his father’s voice.

“I hope you know that Minseok’s punishment for you is still in effect. You’re off Shadowhunter duty until he said so.”

“Yes, abeoji.”

“Use the time off wisely. Rethink your actions and the consequences. Don’t let this happen again, because if it does, you may not be as lucky.”

“…I’m sorry, abeoji.”

Youngwoon sighed. Jongdae could hear his father move from his seat and felt his father’s hand on his head, ruffling his hair, “I _am_ disappointed in you, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you. Consider this some time off to get some much-needed rest. If you want, you can come to Idris with me.”

“I’ll think about it,” Jongdae said as he smiled at his father. Youngwoon smiled back and left the room after patting Jongdae’s shoulder twice. Jongdae sighed once again.

 _That went better than I thought it would_ , Jongdae thought.

***

“Jongdae-hyung, welcome!” Zitao said from behind the counter of his favorite coffee shop.

Huang Zitao was actually one of the very few people that actually intimidated Jongdae besides his older brothers. Zitao was a Daylighter, a vampire who could actually walk in the sunlight without getting harmed because from what Jongdae heard, he was drained of his own blood to the point of almost dying and was saved by – according to rumors – Junmyeon. From what he heard on the Shadowhunter gossip grapevine, Zitao drank Junmyeon’s blood to survive, and since then, he was able to walk under the sunlight. Jongdae figured that only Zitao and Junmyeon knew the truth – not even Junmyeon’s siblings knew anything about it.

 _Thank Raziel he didn’t sparkle like those so-called vampires in Twilight. I’ll never take him seriously if he does_ , Jongdae thought. Zitao was a Chinese kid who lived on his own before he was Turned and was taken in by the Wu clan. He was a really tall, olive-skinned, panda-eyed, and _clingy_ martial artist before he was Turned. Well, the clingy part Jongdae knew after he was Turned, since every time Junmyeon was actually around, Zitao would cling onto Junmyeon like a koala clinging onto a eucalyptus tree (“Actually, Zitao also clings to everyone in the clan. Especially Shixun,” Junmyeon clarified).

Imagine how clingy he became after Junmyeon started frequenting the Wu clan vampire den after Junmyeon started dating (“Professionally meeting. It’s all business,” Junmyeon would say. Jongdae would snort unattractively at that). In short, Zitao was _scary_ in Jongdae’s eyes. He looked like he could kill someone with his wushu. But when he was with Junmyeon, the vampire actually became a _very_ tame panda who called the Shadowhunter hyung even though he had stopped aging while Junmyeon continued to age. Scary.

“Hey, Zitao,” Jongdae said with a smile, “One Americano to go, please.”

“Coming right up!” Zitao said as he punched in Jongdae’s order in the cash register. Jongdae immediately gave Zitao the money and told him to keep the change. This gained a big smile on Zitao’s face, which made a smile bloom on Jongdae’s own face. Actually, when the Daylighter smiled, he would look like a kid. It was kind of adorable.

As Jongdae walked away from the coffee shop, sipping slowly on his still-very-hot Americano, he was suddenly pulled by someone towards an alley right next to the coffee shop. Thank the Angels for the coffee cup lids, because if it wasn’t there, Jongdae would have wasted some really good coffee.

Jongdae was ready to give the person a piece of his mind for interrupting his private coffee session when he saw the familiar puppy eyes of Byun Baekhyun, who was putting his (very pretty) pointer finger on his lips as a signal for him to not make a sound. When he saw who it was, Jongdae shut up.

“I’m sorry for pulling you away like this, but… I just wanted to thank you for saving me the other day.”

Jongdae only stared at him blankly, trying his hardest to ignore the persistent beat of his heart that was going increasingly fast by the second.

“…just doing my job.”

“But still! Thank you. Those Raum demons started coming a month ago, and it was getting harder to dodge them. I don’t know what would happen if you weren’t there.”

Jongdae widened his eyes. Raum demons, unlike most demons, were quite clever. It would be quite hard to ‘dodge’ them, as Baekhyun put it. Must be a fey thing.

“…who do you think wants you?”

“Huh?”

“Raum demons are retriever demons. People use them to retrieve something, or someone. Do you have any idea if someone wants you or has a grudge on you?”

“I… am not sure. I’ve pissed off a lot of people, so…”

 _I bet you have_ , Jongdae thought, _not to mention after the Dark War, a lot of people have been preying on faeries or people with fey blood to slaughter just to minimize the chances of their kind getting revenge on us Shadowhunters._

“Is that all?”

“Huh?”

“Can I go back to where I was going before?”

“Uh… yeah, sure.”

Jongdae walked away from Baekhyun. Even though the other man was not fully mundane, he had faerie blood in him. Jongdae would rather not associate with that particular kind of Downworlder, knowing how mischievous they could be. The fact that Baekhyun was a mixture of mundane and faerie made it worse. He _could not_ associate himself with Baekhyun.

“Wait!”

Jongdae grumbled, “What now?”

“Do you… wanna go out sometime?”

“…huh?”

***

Jongdae remembered when he made fun of Junmyeon because he had unconsciously agreed on a date with the leader of the Wu clan, Wu Yifan. His own brother, Kim Junmyeon, Shadowhunter through and through, with the stereotypical prejudice against Downworlders, went on a date with a vampire. It was hilarious.

Jongdae regretted laughing so hard at his brother.

Now, when _he_ was the one who had unconsciously agreed on a date with the species he had a prejudice against, he had to suck it up and deal with Junmyeon and Jongin laughing at him. Even Minseok, who was _really_ mad at him a couple of days ago, chuckled at him.

Baekhyun asked him out to a _club_ , of all places. Jongdae was a fantastic Shadowhunter, but agility and grace were never on good terms with him. He sometimes even messed up his demon-hunting jobs because of his clumsiness. But he would like to think that he was a better dancer than Junmyeon.

So there Jongdae was, clad in what looked very identical to Shadowhunter gear (because it was, sans the weapons. He had his trusted whip as his belt, though, just in case something disturbed his… _date_ ), standing outside of a club called Inferno, waiting impatiently for Baekhyun to come. He was getting uncomfortable by the attention he was getting from other patrons. He could hear a bunch of girls whispering excitedly while pointing at him, and he didn’t like it.

Being the middle child, Jongdae wasn’t used to getting attention. Not that he was saying that either Minseok or Jongin were attention whores, but their parents tried to give them all equal attention, but it didn’t work, and it was okay. They weren’t supposed to attract any attention anyway, with their line of work. Right now, being in the center of attention, Jongdae’s hand was itching to grab his stele and draw a glamour rune on himself, audience be damned.

“Hey, buttcheeks!”

That cursed nickname. Jongdae swore that he was going to make Baekhyun stop using it.

“You’re late,” Jongdae said, “You said 9 PM. It’s 9.15,” Jongdae was taught since his childhood to be very strict about time, because one second could make all the difference between life and death in demon hunting.

“Who the hell comes in time for a date in a club anyway?”

“Uh… a gentleman? A man who sticks to what he says?”

“You must have never been on a date, huh?”

Bingo.

Well, Jongdae didn’t have any comebacks for that one.

“Could you stop calling me buttcheeks?” Jongdae decided to change the subject, however abrupt it was.

“Hell no. Have you ever seen yourself? If I have your ass, I would use it to my advantage.”

Jongdae just shook his head in exasperation, and made his way to the entrance of the club. Realizing that he didn’t know what to do when he was met with the bouncer, he stopped in his tracks and waited for Baekhyun to catch up.

“Why a club, though? It’s not exactly the most common choice for a first date.”

“I don’t do romantic stuff,” Baekhyun said as he showed the bouncer his ID, Jongdae following suit.

“Could’ve fooled me, with all those cheesy love songs you sing in the coffee shop.”

“You caught me,” Baekhyun said while grinning at Jongdae as they stepped inside the club. He pointed at a direction where the DJ booth was, and behind it, a man with quite noticeable ears was holding one piece of the headphone he had around his neck while the other hand was spinning a record on the booth. His bright smile could even be seen from a distance, “he’s my friend, Park Chanyeol. He just started working here as a DJ and I wanted to support him.”

Jongdae only hummed and nodded. When Baekhyun walked somewhere, Jongdae followed him because there was no way in hell he was going to get lost in the sea of mundanes. When Baekhyun stopped in front of the bar, Jongdae took his time to look at his surroundings. The place was flooded with mundanes, Downworlders, and even ghosts.

Yes, Jongdae was one of the very few Shadowhunters who were gifted with the ability of seeing ghosts. He was one out of two Shadowhunters in his own line of family who had that gift; although for Junmyeon, being the other Shadowhunter in his line of family who could see ghosts, it was more of a curse. From afar, Jongdae could recognize one of the ghosts that liked to come over to the Institute and bother Junmyeon, a mundane ghost named Kyuhyun. He lifted his hand and the ghost approached him rapidly and “high-fived” him with a grin.

“Found someone you know?” Baekhyun asked as he handed Jongdae a glass filled with something colorful.

“…sort of,” Jongdae said as he took a sip of the drink. He shrugged when he found it not half bad – in fact, it was good, and the fact that Baekhyun managed to guess his taste in beverages impressed him.

“Small world! Who was it? I know pretty much everyone in here, so I’m bound to know him.”

“Small chance. He’s dead,” Jongdae said as he finished his drink, “this is really good. Do you mind getting me another?”

“…what?”

“The drink. If you don’t wanna get it for me, I’ll get it myself. What’s the name of this drink?”

“No, no, I’ll get it for you in a minute. _He’s dead_ , you said?!”

“Oh, yeah. He died, like, four years ago. He used to own this club with his friends, but they died when a fire struck this place. His name’s Kyuhyun.”

“A-and how do you know this guy again?”

“He comes over to the Institute sometimes to bother my brother. He said he really liked Junmyeon-hyung because he looked a lot like the guy he used to have a crush on and his reaction excited him.”

“So… you guys don’t banish ghosts?”

“If they were a problem, yeah. But ghosts like Kyuhyun-hyung just wanna have fun. Junmyeon-hyung would beg to differ, though. If he could banish all the ghosts he sees, he would do it in a second. He was just too scared to do it himself,” Jongdae said as he handed Baekhyun his empty glass, “ _now_ can I get a refill?”

Baekhyun took the glass from Jongdae’s hand with a slacked jaw. A moment later, he laughed, making Jongdae’s heart flutter, “You Shadowhunters always fascinate me! I mean, a Shadowhunter who vanquishes demons for a living is scared of ghosts?! Priceless! If he was one of my mates, he would never hear the end of it!”

“Oh, trust me; he hasn’t heard the end of it. I made it my personal mission to remind him every time,” Jongdae smiled when Baekhyun laughed louder. When his laughter dissipated, what was left was one of the most beautiful smiles Jongdae had ever seen before in his life, aside from Junmyeon’s and his appa’s, “you have a beautiful smile,” he said before he could stop himself.

Now there was a rare look on Baekhyun’s face. Jongdae smiled softly when he could see the other man blush even under the bright, colorful lights of the club. He really was quite cute.

“I-I’ll go get your drink,” Baekhyun said as he hastily left for the bar.

“Jongdae-hyung?” Jongdae turned around when a hand landed on his shoulder and a familiar voice called him out.

“Zitao? What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing! I’ve never seen you here before!”

“Yeah, I’m with Baekhyun,” Jongdae said. He didn’t really like the smirk that bloomed on Zitao’s face, “wipe that smirk off your face before I do it for you, Huang Zitao.”

“It’s good that you’re going out, hyung.”

“I go out every night.”

“Yeah, to fight demons. It’s good to see you out in… wait, are you in your gear?! Hyung…” Zitao ran a hand down his face when he realized what Jongdae was wearing.

“What?! It’s comfortable and appropriate! You don’t even know what’s gonna go down tonight!”

“Definitely not Baekhyun on you. Hyung, you’re on a _date_ with, like, the only person you’re attracted with…”

“How do you even know it’s a date?!”

“…and you’re in your gear?! No. Not acceptable! If I could strip you down here and dress you in something else, I would!”

Jongdae palmed his face. He could hear someone around them saying, “Get a room!” He took advantage of being faster than mundanes, though slightly slower than Zitao, to put a hand over the Daylighter’s mouth, “I swear you could be louder than that and we’ll both be dragged out of this club for obscenity!”

When Jongdae was sure that Zitao won’t say another word, he pulled his hand away. He frowned in confusion when he saw the Daylighter smirking.

“What?”

“You didn’t say anything when I said you’re attracted to Baekhyun.”

“When did you say that I’m attracted to Baekhyun?”

“Well, I didn’t phrase it like that, but you didn’t deny being attracted to him!”

“Who’s attracted to whom, now?” Baekhyun asked as he handed Jongdae a refill of his drink. Jongdae glared at Zitao to shut him up, and Zitao only grinned.

“It’s nothing, hyung.”

“Ah… I know,” Baekhyun suddenly said with a knowing grin. Jongdae panicked. He didn’t recall ever feeling his heart beat this fast, “You’re attracted to…”

“Baekhyun-ah…” Jongdae said.

“Chanyeol, right?”

“Huh?”

“Tao here has been ogling Chanyeol from afar. You think you’re so sneaky but you’re not, Huang,” Baekhyun said with a smirk. If Zitao could blush, he would right now, “I’d say go for it. He’s single, and even though he said he’s not looking for a relationship right now, I think you can convince him otherwise,” Baekhyun pushed Zitao towards the general direction Chanyeol was in, “Now leave us alone. You’re interrupting our date.”

Zitao laughed, “Fine. I know how to take a hint,” he said with a mock pout before he left them both for Chanyeol. Jongdae could see from where he was that Zitao had yet to pull his gaze away from Chanyeol and it seemed like the DJ noticed him. Jongdae smiled.

“Good for him.”

“Yeah, he’s a great guy,” Baekhyun said as he sipped his own drink, “So… wanna dance?”

As was told before, Jongdae was not exactly the best dancer in the world. But looking at Baekhyun’s eyes right then, he could care less.

“Lead the way, good sir.”

***

Having known Zitao for quite a long time, Jongdae knew how impulsive the Daylighter could be.

More than once, Jongdae had seen Zitao try to drag Yifan, Shixun, and Junmyeon out to the mall in broad daylight, seemingly forgetting that only Junmyeon could sustain so much UV rays. After Zitao heard Yifan’s stern call of his name only did he realize that not every vampire in their clan could survive the sun (more like, he was the only one who can). Jongdae had also heard from Junmyeon just how much money Zitao could spend on things that he “didn’t know he wanted before,” but eventually Zitao only used those things once.

Knowing Zitao, Jongdae shouldn’t have been shocked to hear what came out of Junmyeon’s mouth. But he was anyway.

“Zitao bit someone and fed his blood to his victim.”

Jongdae and all his brothers, plus Yifan, were sitting down in the Sanctuary. Junmyeon came into the Sanctuary after calling Yifan over, having heard from a panicked Zitao that could potentially – more like definitely – made someone his first Subjugate and – potentially – Fledgling.

If a vampire found it irritating to go out and suck someone’s blood every time they feel thirsty, they could make themselves a Subjugate. A Subjugate was a human who became – for lack of a better word – a vampire’s constant blood supply who was fed small amounts of vampire blood by the vampire, which would make them docile, obedient, and in time, worshipful of their vampire master. A Subjugate had a certain pull towards the vampire whose blood they had drank, and with enough vampire blood in their system, they would become a Fledgling. A Fledgling was a human who had consumed enough vampire blood to become a vampire himself. Before they could turn into a vampire, though, they had to die first, and then buried near the surface to dig their own way out of the grave and be reborn as a vampire.

“Does he know who it is?” Minseok asked Junmyeon.

“He wouldn’t say. He was pretty shaken up since it was the first time he lost control of himself. I told him to tell someone if he’s hungry, so I don’t understand why he kept himself hungry all this time,” Junmyeon said as he bit on his thumbnail, a bad habit he always did when he was worried, looking like a worried mother.

“’Thirsty’, love, not hungry,” Yifan said with a smirk. Junmyeon clicked his tongue.

“Details,” he said, “and don’t call me love!” he exclaimed a second later with a blush on his cheeks.

“At least it got you to stop biting on your nails. It’s unsanitary.”

“I wash my hands, thank you very much!”

Jongdae held back any jokes he had in mind whenever he witnessed his hyung with the head of the Wu clan bantering like a married couple because it was quite a serious situation for all of them, especially Yifan and Junmyeon, who had taken the roles of Zitao’s ‘parents’.

“Well, I guess we’ll know for sure sooner or later. One of these days, a mundane would swoon over him, practically begging for his blood,” Jongdae said.

“We’ll keep an eye on him, just in case,” Yifan said.

“Be discreet about it, okay? I promised Zitao I wouldn’t tell you about this,” Junmyeon said.

“Why are you telling me, then?”

“You’re his clan leader. I can see why he’s afraid of what’s going to happen if you find out, but I know you have a soft spot for him. I trust you,” Junmyeon said with a smile. Yifan widened his eyes before he rubbed the back of his neck. If he could blush, Jongdae figured he must be blushing right now. Jongdae smiled in surprise; he didn’t know his brother could say something like that with a straight face.

Or maybe he spoke to soon.

Not one second after seeing Yifan’s reaction, Junmyeon, who seemed to know that Yifan felt embarrassed when he rubbed the back of his neck, started to blush.

“I-I mean…!”

“I know what you mean, love,” Yifan said with a smirk on his face, leaning his face close to Junmyeon’s and ran a fingertip through Junmyeon’s neck, near his vein. Jongdae could see his brother tense at the touch, and giggled to himself. His brother was such a _tsundere_.

***

For some reason, Jongdae found himself with Baekhyun again a couple of days after their date. Jongdae hated it when someone was right, but Zitao was _right_. He _was_ attracted to Baekhyun. He guessed it was time for him to admit it to himself anyway.

They were just walking by Han River on their way to Taki’s. It might not be the most romantic date spots, but the food was good and, according to Baekhyun, “it’s the thought that counts. And I love their pancake with coffee flower nectar,” so it must be good enough for Baekhyun.

“Do you remember Chanyeol, my DJ friend?” Baekhyun suddenly said.

“Oh, the one Zitao liked?”

“Yeah, that one! I saw them coming out of a club one day, and Chanyeol was like, all over Zitao!” Baekhyun said with a wide smile, “I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say that Zitao nailed it.”

“Well, good for him. He needs someone to tie him down, for Raziel’s sake. Kid’s too uncontrollable,” Jongdae said.

“But… I think it’s safe for me to tell you, but there’s something wrong with Chanyeol,” Baekhyun said.

“Something wrong?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me, but he looked so… empty. He was just staring into space and the only time he looked like himself was when Zitao talked to him,” Baekhyun looked cautiously at Jongdae, “that’s not normal, right?”

Jongdae stopped in his tracks. What if…?

Before he could even continue his track of mind, he heard Baekhyun scream. When he looked up, he saw a tall guy, with familiar, distinctive ears, latching onto Baekhyun, trying his hardest to reach his neck with his mouth.

Now, Jongdae had always been very level minded. He never, I repeat, _never_ moved without thinking about the consequences he had to face later on. That was all Jongin. But right then and there, seeing Baekhyun so helpless in the arms of someone who – presumably – didn’t even know what was going on with himself, he moved impulsively. He jumped at Chanyeol and pushed him away from Baekhyun.

When Chanyeol was doubled over on the ground, he pushed Baekhyun behind him and pushed his cellphone towards Baekhyun, “call Junmyeon-hyung!”

When Baekhyun didn’t take his cellphone, he looked to his back and saw Baekhyun looking at Chanyeol with wide eyes, as if he couldn’t believe what just happened. Jongdae bit his lip and pushed his phone into Baekhyun’s hand and held his face, “Listen to me! I know you’re shocked, but he’s not himself right now! What I need you to do is find Junmyeon-hyung’s number and call him, and we’ll be able to help him! _You’ll_ be able to help him!”

Baekhyun’s eyes only widened, and Jongdae’s heart almost stopped. He pushed Baekhyun away from him and turned around just in time to catch Chanyeol as he leaped at them, “Baekhyun-ah, please hurry!” Jongdae begged as he held Chanyeol back. He considered hitting him unconscious, but he figured Baekhyun wouldn’t like that very much.

As Jongdae tried to hold Chanyeol back, he put together the pieces. Zitao’s Subjugate was Chanyeol. Their relationship must have gone long enough for Chanyeol to actually become a Fledgling, but for some reason, Chanyeol died and was buried by someone until he actually dug his own grave and was revived as a vampire. But without anyone else to wait on him outside of the grave, there was no one to give him his first supply of blood. Hence the fact that they were attacked.

Jongdae looked around and saw a cemetery nearby. That must be where Chanyeol was buried. And when he looked around him, there was no one there but them.

“For Angel’s sake, Zitao, you’re so damn lucky we’re the ones who found him…” Jongdae muttered angrily. Jongdae refrained from using his whip because it was made out of materials that would weaken Downworlders, and at this stage, if he used his whip to tie Chanyeol down, he’d die. Jongdae tried to keep the distance between Chanyeol and Baekhyun fairly wide. His priority right then and there was to protect Baekhyun.

“Jongdae-ah, Junmyeon-hyung said he’s on his way,” Baekhyun said from behind him.

“Good. They better hurry or we’ll be feast,” Jongdae said as he threw Chanyeol down with a judo throw.

Several minutes later, Junmyeon, along with Minseok, Jongin, and, unexpectedly, Luhan, ran over to them.

“By the Angel, can you get here any slower?!” Jongdae said in irritation. Minseok glared at him and walked over to Chanyeol and held him down as Luhan fed him the blood he had pulled out of his bag. Jongdae fell down on the ground in exhaustion, “Long time no see, Luhan-hyung.”

“Long time no see, Jongdae-ah. You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?” Luhan said with an easy smile on his face.

“Where’s Zitao?” Jongdae asked as he closed his eyes.

“Yifan is currently giving him a very stern lecture,” Junmyeon said with a cold tone. Jongdae opened his eyes and saw that Junmyeon looked _furious_ , “which is something he deserves.”

“Wow, Zitao has definitely fucked up big time if you’re this mad at him.”

Jongin chuckled, “he came to the Sanctuary earlier saying that he found Chanyeol dead in an alley somewhere and he buried him in a cemetery near Han River but then he left to tell Junmyeon-hyung. I’ve never seen him so flustered.”

“He’s still way too young to have a Fledgling!” Junmyeon argued, “He’s practically just a baby himself!

“He is so damn lucky Jongdae was the one who found Chanyeol,” Minseok said as he held a limp Chanyeol, who passed out after drinking a pack of blood, “You’ve done a great job of holding him down, Jongdae-ah. Who knew you’d do so much to protect a mundane?” Minseok said with a smirk.

Jongdae knew he was blushing as he saw his siblings and Luhan leave with Chanyeol sleeping on Luhan’s back (which was something Jongdae didn’t know was possible). He avoided looking at Baekhyun and jumped when he felt something graze his hand. It was his phone.

“Here,” Baekhyun said.

“Thanks. For calling Junmyeon-hyung,” Jongdae said as he pocketed his phone.

“I just did what you told me to do. And hey, Chanyeol’s safe, we’re safe. All is good, right?”

Jongdae looked up at Baekhyun and gulped. He was smiling at him and the moonlight was shining down on him from behind. Call him cheesy, but Baekhyun looked magical to him at that moment. He saw Baekhyun bite his lip and blush.

“So, um… Taki’s?” Baekhyun suddenly said, “I’m buying.”

“But I asked _you_ out.”

“As a thank you for saving me from feral Chanyeol,” Baekhyun said, “come on, take it or leave it, buttcheeks.”

“I will if you stop calling me that.”

“Aw, but it’s such a creative nickname! I was so proud of myself when I made it!”

“Baekhyun-ah, please.”

“Fine…”

And they walked, hand in hand, towards Taki’s.


End file.
